<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>These Not So Empty Spaces by Coconutice22</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25555114">These Not So Empty Spaces</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Coconutice22/pseuds/Coconutice22'>Coconutice22</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>These Empty Spaces - An IronStrange Series [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Canon-Typical Violence, Companion Piece, HE IS, Hurt Tony, Loss of Bodily Autonomy, M/M, No but really, Obadiah is an asshole, POV Tony Stark, Stephen is a doctor doing actual doctoring, Tony Stark Has A Heart, alternative universe, but we already knew that</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 08:55:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>11,034</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25555114</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Coconutice22/pseuds/Coconutice22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony's had a bad, terrible day. Well, week. Well, month. Make that a year. Meeting Doctor Stephen Strange can't make it <em>that</em> much worse, right? </p>
<p>Companion piece to "These Empty Spaces", from Tony's POV.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Tony Stark/Stephen Strange</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>These Empty Spaces - An IronStrange Series [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1822246</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>61</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>These Not So Empty Spaces</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is a companion piece to “These Empty Spaces” and won’t make any sense as a stand-alone story. It covers from about Chapter 9 when Stephen first cooks Tony dinner at his place, to the end of the main fic, but from Tony’s POV this time. </p>
<p>Enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I fell in love with Stephen because of a sandwich,” Tony told the assembled crowd, who laughed politely in reply. It was really only fair that they humored him, given that it was Tony and Stephen’s wedding. “I was hungry, he had half a sandwich left. He gave it to me, and I was his, forever more.” Stephen chuckled at that too, even if he alone knew that wasn’t entirely accurate. “He charmed me like I was a wild animal: with kindness, patience, and food, more food, and an endless supply of patience.” That was closer to the truth. </p>
<p>It was a somewhat protracted version of their story, but it was still loosely recognizable as the truth. However, he certainly didn’t fall in love over a sandwich, even if it was the Greatest Sandwich New York Had To Offer, as Stephen was fond of calling it. He was tripped-up by love because of a sandwich, but he didn’t fall. Not at that point. </p>
<p>Their lives together started in truth with a shrimp cocktail, a little vengeance, a parking space, Stephen and Tony being surprisingly apt at pettiness, a meal, a poisoning, The Sandwich, more assassination attempts, a government cover-up, and then the normal vowing to spend the rest of their living days together. That old, timeless cliche. But that wasn’t the story the wedding party needed to hear. For that particular day, Tony stuck to the sandwich. </p>
<p>But it was because of that sandwich that Stephen invited Tony over for dinner for the first time. </p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Nearly seven years before they got married, Tony visited Stephen’s home for the first time. It had been in the wake of Tony being poisoned during their first disastrous dinner together. The dinner which Stephen had won in an auction for a date with Tony Stark. </p>
<p>Tony hadn’t been sure what to expect when Stephen had invited him for dinner. A few hours before he’d been due at Stephen’s house, Tony had changed his outfit three times, combed his hair down, mused it up, combed it down, mused it around, put aftershave on, washed most of it off. </p>
<p>Not feeling right in turning up without a gift, Tony had then gone through his wine collection looking for something suitable. Except he then second-guessed himself and put the wine away again, suddenly fearful Stephen wouldn’t want to drink it because he had work the next day and that it would appear like Tony was pushing alcohol on him. Tony was also feeling a little paranoid that they just wouldn’t have the same tastes in wine. He rationalised, very irrationally, that this would only give the doctor another reason to think lowly of Tony –  if he didn’t already after his discovery of Tony’s eating issues post-poisoning. All of this fear led Tony to an emergency dash to the only art dealer he knew. Felicia happily sold Tony the first vase that looked okay to him, as if every day he came into her gallery and bought a $5,000 vase on a whim.</p>
<p>With the vase, arm prototype, design schematics, StarkPad, and a very fragile sense of self-confidence in tow, Tony finally made his way over to Stephen’s condo. </p>
<p>Stephen cooked, and it turned out he cooked well. Tony was a little besotted with the image of the other man in a white shirt, sleeves rolled up, and black slacks that did everything possible to emphasise the well-sculpted thighs of the surgeon. </p>
<p>A home-cooked meal had to mean something, right? </p>
<p>“I thought you’d prefer eating in to going out. Less potential of the paparazzi or strangers trying to photograph you, and me, by that account.” </p>
<p>But apparently Stephen just wanted to avoid the hoards that seemed to follow Tony around. That made sense. </p>
<p>Tony clenched his fork and took another bite. “Smart.” </p>
<p>“It’s a type of Malaysian curry,” Stephen explained, placing a steaming bowl down in front of Tony. “I was remembering my last trip there and had a sudden craving.” </p>
<p>“It looks delicious, whatever it is,” Tony smiled. “I don’t know the last time someone cooked for me,” he admitted. </p>
<p>“I enjoy it,” Stephen smiled. </p>
<p>They were silent a moment, both enjoying their food. </p>
<p>“Do you do this often?” </p>
<p>“Eat?” </p>
<p>“Cook,” Tony asked, laughing. </p>
<p>“Not as often as I’d like. My hours are long.” </p>
<p>“People need you – it’s admirable. They need you to...” Tony trailed off as the device on his wrist vibrated sharply to let him know he had a new message. It was going to be Obie. It was always Obie. </p>
<p>Tony was getting sick of it. </p>
<p>He’d been enjoying himself and his new company, and there Obie was, yet again, buzzing in rudely. </p>
<p>“So that’s the future of phones, I take it?” Stephen asked, taking in Tony’s wrist communicator. “Very sci-fi.” </p>
<p>“Ha,” Tony answered. “Nope, just a prototype. I don’t think I like it that much.” He jabbed a few buttons to get the right menu, swiped through the dials, and finally turned off the device entirely. </p>
<p>Good riddance. </p>
<p>“I thought it would be convenient to always have it on my body. Unlike a phone, you can’t exactly lose it, can’t put it down by mistake and forget where it was. Turns out? Total pain in the ass. I’ve turned it off now.” </p>
<p>At least if his communicator was off, Obie wouldn’t be able to call him again that night. The calls were constant lately. His godfather’s behavior had gone from worried to almost suffocatingly-painfully overprotective. The poisoning had done nothing to help their relationship of late. It just made Tony’s guilt build day-by-day. Slowly it was wearing him down, making him avoid Obie. </p>
<p>Things had been getting worse between them ever since Tony told Obie his intention not to sign up again for the military weapon contracts. When he’d told Obie he was bored of designing guns and needed new challenges. Obie, who always was so supportive in the past, was turning into a thing Tony couldn’t even recognize anymore. </p>
<p>Tony didn’t even know what Obie would think if he revealed the real reason he was stopping the weapons program at Stark Industries. </p>
<p>Obadiah Stane had gone above and beyond to help Tony over the years, and Tony would always appreciate that. He’d always remember how the other man helped him after his parents had died. How he’d bring pizza by when there was news to celebrate. Tony didn’t want to resent him, didn’t want to be avoiding his calls, and dodging him whenever he was in the office. It just felt like he didn’t have much of a choice lately. </p>
<p>“I hope you didn’t mind curry, it was just calling to me,” Stephen spoke, breaking through Tony’s thoughts. </p>
<p>Tony looked up from his food, realizing his lapse of silence might have been read as dislike for what his host had prepared. </p>
<p>“It’s really nice, excellent. You honestly cooked it yourself?” </p>
<p>“You saw me, didn’t you?” </p>
<p>He had. He’d sat at Stephen’s kitchen island and watched, mesmerized, impressed, a little turn-on. Tony’s latent competency kink shifting into gear as he’d watched Stephen chop and stir so hypnotically.  </p>
<p>“Well, perhaps I did. Or perhaps you’re just really good at faking cooking,” Tony teased. </p>
<p>Tony took a purposefully large bite, just to prove how much he was enjoying it. </p>
<p>And that was when he got a view through the gap in between the buttons of Stephen’s poor, barely-holding it together, buttoned-up shirt, of the chest hair beneath, and suddenly Tony was coughing on his food. </p>
<p>“Are you okay?” Stephen asked with concern, looking like he was moments from standing up to walk over to Tony. </p>
<p>He was fine, just embarrassed that a moment of horniness over some freaking chest hair had led him to forget how to eat. </p>
<p>“Just a little spice on the back of my throat,” Tony lied. “I’m a bit of a wuss when it comes to heat.” More lies. Great. This was off to a fantastic start. </p>
<p>He wanted to feel that chest hair. Rub his face in it and run his fingers over Stephen’s chest. Rub the pad of his thumb over Stephen’s nipples and see how quickly he could get them erect, then kiss his way down and… </p>
<p>Tony coughed again. Stephen frowned over at him and Tony knew exactly why. The coughing last time they’d eaten together had been the tell tale sign of Tony’s poisoning. It was probably freaking Stephen out to see Tony coughing again while eating. </p>
<p>“Can I offer you some more water?” </p>
<p>“Yes, please. That’d be very welcomed.”</p>
<p>Stephen poured some more out of the carafe he’d set on the table. </p>
<p>Tony drank half the glass in a very undignified gulp. </p>
<p>“You were saying at the hospital your test subject is having pains in his upper lip?” </p>
<p>Tony dabbed his mouth with the cloth napkin he’d been provided, giving himself a second to gather his composure. “Yes, when he’s feeling rough surfaces with the hand, he said it felt like his lip was brushing against something rough. But you said it could just be rewired synapses from his injury?” </p>
<p>“Potentially. Like I said, nerves are tricky.” Stephen leaned across and before Tony could question what was happening, Stephen was running his right thumb lightly against Tony’s upper lip. “Do you feel that anywhere else other than your lip?”</p>
<p>Tony went still a second before nodding. “Yup,” he’d told Stephen, voice a little scratchy. “I get your point. Nerves are complicated.”</p>
<p>Yes, nerves were indeed complicated.</p>
<p>And what the fuck was that? If this was a seduction, Stephen didn’t seem like he was planning to make it a quick one. </p>
<p>Stephen swiftly picked up his knife and fork, going back to eating his meal as if nothing had happened. </p>
<p>“We really would have to test it out fully to see the brain activity on your test patient. But there’s this thing called a mirror box, which is sometimes used to help with phantom limb pain. It was my go-to thought for how we could solve this. Retrain his brain so that he recognizes input from his fingertips on the artificial limb are from the fingers and not elsewhere. You know I’m not an expert on limb loss though, don’t you?” </p>
<p>“I know, but I’ve read enough of your papers to be sure you understand enough of the area that you can help with this.” </p>
<p>“Do you have a schematic of how you’re attaching this thing? I still don’t really know how you’ve gone about approaching this to be able to offer up any adjustments.” </p>
<p>“I’ve got a full schematic on my StarkPad,” Tony said, getting up immediately to walk over to where he’d left his bag by Stephen’s sofa. He grabbed it and walked back to the table, setting the device down. Soon a three-dimensional rendering of the blueprint was being projected above the StarkPad. He could tell Stephen was impressed, even if the doctor wasn’t going to admit it. </p>
<p>Stephen put his knife and fork down, moving his half-eaten plate slightly so he could lean further across the table without putting his elbow in the leftovers. Tony studied him as Stephen started moving the diagram around, examining it from all angles. </p>
<p>“You can expand and zoom in like this,” Tony demonstrated, pinching, pushing and pulling the images. </p>
<p>“Interesting,” Stephen muttered, continuing to study what was before him. What he was looking for, Tony couldn’t even begin to guess. </p>
<p>“Could I see the prototype device? If you have it with you?” Stephen enquired. </p>
<p>“Sure, I have it over here.” They both walked over to the couch and sat down. Tony put his StarkPad with the projection on the coffee table and took out the protective travel box his prototype was in. </p>
<p>“What are you using to power this?” Stephen asked, looking at Tony puzzled. “I know most bionic limbs just get charged overnight now, but the energy requirements of this thing seem quite a lot more than normal.” </p>
<p>Tony hesitated. Technically people weren’t meant to know what he was working on. Not even Peter knew. It wasn’t ready for the world to see, since he hadn’t managed to fix the pesky issues caused by the palladium. </p>
<p>“We’re working on that still, but essentially it’ll be a very high spec battery. But the system’s requirements really aren’t as high as they might seem. The manufacturing method and use of the coolant, nanofibers <em>et cetera</em>, by the time it all comes together it can work with a standard battery if it has to.” </p>
<p>They worked the night away, with Tony breaking down the sections of the prototype arm and demonstrating how each piece worked. He then put all the sections back together, both virtually in the schematic, and to some degree in the prototype. All of which was to show Stephen how the parts worked together, and also demonstrate how the final piece should seamlessly work with the user. </p>
<p>Stephen soaked up all the new information like a thirsty sponge, getting to grips with the base concepts as fast as Tony could relay them in ways Stephen would understand. Tony focused on comparing the engineering design to the biological systems he and his team had been hoping to mimic. </p>
<p>There was a symbiosis to the evening, to their learning and interactions, which led Tony to feel an all empowering sense of freedom and peace in sharing these things with Stephen. It was an emotion that only grew over the coming weeks as Stephen finally understood things enough to be able to make suggestions for how the wearer might be better equipped so that the hardware could work. </p>
<p>The first time their test subject was able to get a sense of feedback for pressure from the prototype, Tony knew they had nearly finished their initial work. His first instinct was to message Stephen – ignoring several new messages from Obidiah – to let him know of their success. And it was <em>their</em> success. Stephen’s thoughtful feedback on how to better prepare the patient to be a recipient for the prosthesis added a depth to the program Tony hadn’t really stopped to consider before. </p>
<p>Tony was starting to feel like a stray cat when he was around Stephen. He’d been offered free food and some company by the doctor and suddenly Tony couldn’t help but turn up on his doorstep for top-ups of these items. It was nice. It was more than nice. </p>
<p>“So you’re sleeping with him, right?” Happy asked outright one evening. </p>
<p>“Who?” Tony replied with faux confusion. </p>
<p>“The doctor? Strange? I don’t know when you last spent this much time with someone new. And May said you’re probably just sleeping together. But I told her I know you, and if you’re putting this much time in with him, it was more than that.” </p>
<p>“Happy, I’m not.” </p>
<p>“Not what?” </p>
<p>“Sleeping with him <em>or </em>dating him.” </p>
<p>“But you’d like to?” </p>
<p>“I…” Tony stopped. “That’s not, um,” he looked at his wrist communicator. “Oh, look at that, I’m running late. Meetings to get to, people to see, puppies to cuddle, all that stuff.” Tony got up off the couch. </p>
<p>They’d been relaxing in his rooms at Stark Tower though, having a guys night in, so Tony’s actions were suspicious even to Happy. </p>
<p>“It’s 10 pm at night? You can’t just keep running away when you don’t want to talk about something!” </p>
<p>Happy’s words were muted out by the soundproofing of Tony’s bedroom door. </p>
<p>Tony sat down onto his bed, throwing himself back in a melodramatic fashion and starfishing out. </p>
<p>He didn’t know what was going on between himself and Stephen, and he really didn’t need Happy poking things any more than he was already doing himself. </p>
<p>Perhaps it was time to take some affirmative action, and soon. After the prosthesis was completed, Tony wouldn’t have a good excuse to just drop by and talk to Stephen whenever he wanted. He was worried that Stephen wouldn’t welcome his presence after the project was finished. A date for the media launch of the arm had been set, and the voice inside Tony’s head wouldn’t stop whining that the launch meant it was the end of the road for him and Stephen’s time together. </p>
<p>The next day, Tony arrived at the hospital to discover Stephen had stolen back his parking spot already. Tony smiled when he saw the doctor’s car there as it meant he was comfortable enough with Tony to play around with him like this. </p>
<p>At lunchtime, Tony took the now well-worn trek up to Stephen’s office for some food. He felt warm as Stephen slid over a sandwich across his desk to Tony. Stephen acted like he wasn’t listening, but Tony could see him smirking from behind his tablet as Tony playfully bemoaned the stolen parking space. </p>
<p>“I got there to park and thought, oh boy oh boy, I’ve already parked? I’m amazing. But low and behold, I was in the car, and not parked. Because someone, with the same – very exclusive – car as me, had already parked there.”</p>
<p>Stephen’s smirk increased. </p>
<p>“We’ve got a date fixed now for the launch event, invites should be going out soon.” Tony gulped and wiped his mouth with a napkin, playing with it in his hands. “I’d never have finished this thing without you, you know? The knowledge and foresight you brought was a lifesaver. And I’ve been enjoying our time together discussing it, and so… So anyway, that’s why, um, why we should just go to this launch event together? We’re basically co-creators on this thing. It is our little bionic baby.”</p>
<p>Stephen paused, and finally looked up at Tony properly.</p>
<p>“Huh?”</p>
<p>Tony frowned. “Weren’t you listening? Where did I lose you?” Tony’s heart was racing. He was going to tell Tony to get lost any second now. </p>
<p>“No?”</p>
<p>“No you don’t want to go to the launch together?”</p>
<p>“What launch?” Stephen asked, looking confused now. </p>
<p>“The launch event for the new Stark tech prosthetic? That we’ve been working on? That has sense-touch feedback? It’s really more of a promotional thing to market and try to raise additional capital. I have most of it covered now, including a site in Chicago for manufacturing this thing. Now’s the time to start announcing it. We’ll have a few of the prototypes there as well.” </p>
<p>Stephen remained quiet. </p>
<p>“So...” Tony drew a breath, trying to calm himself. “Did you want to, you know, go to the event together?” he tried again. </p>
<p>Tony’s stomach sank when Stephen continued to sit and say… absolutely nothing. This was going just <em>so</em> well. Tony started plotting his escape from the room. He’d finally done it and asked Stephen out, and his reward for trying was stone-cold silence. Excellent. </p>
<p>“Sure, why not,” Stephen said suddenly, making Tony’s heart leap. “We can save the planet one car-share at a time,” he shrugged, breezy, cool, infuriating. </p>
<p>“It’s a date,” Tony beamed, letting out a relieved breath. </p>
<p>The launch was the culmination of many years of work for Tony. So much of it done alone before he got the rest of his staff involved, and then later, Stephen. </p>
<p>Tony thought a lot about Pepper, his Mom, and Jarvis when he was getting ready to go. The handkerchief he carried had come from Jarvis. The bowtie he wore had been picked out for him by Pepper. The cufflinks had belonged to his maternal grandfather. Even if they weren’t there to see him, Tony carried their memories with him always. </p>
<p>Stephen looked incredibly well put together when he answered his door to Tony. Tony made JARVIS drive them to the event, so he could focus more on talking with Stephen on the drive over. </p>
<p>It felt good, Tony felt happy. He and Stephen just always seemed to have something to say and talk to each other about. It was just one of the many reasons he was glad he’d finally asked Stephen out properly. </p>
<p>Of course, Obie had to pull Tony to the side not long after they’d arrived and read him the riot act over his plans for the night. How Obie had even found out Tony had planned to use the evening as a platform to announce the end of his weapons making, Tony didn’t know. </p>
<p>Just as he was starting to really lay into Tony, Stephen arrived at his elbow. </p>
<p>“Tony,” Stephen interrupted. Obie finally stepped back a little.</p>
<p>“Yes?” Tony answered, eyes still on his godfather.</p>
<p>“We haven’t danced yet,” Stephen replied.</p>
<p>“You should dance together, Tony. It would be awful for you and your <em>date</em> not to be seen dancing.”</p>
<p>Tony didn’t much like dancing, but he was endlessly grateful to Stephen in that moment for the out. </p>
<p>“Okay...” Tony trailed off. “Let’s dance.”</p>
<p>“But remember what I said,” Obie told him in a low, dangerous tone as soon as Tony had his back to him. “If you make the announcement tonight, it will seem like this whole artificial nerve charity<em> thing</em> was just to make you look and feel better.”</p>
<p>Tony shut his eyes briefly and let out a slow breath. <em>Fuck</em>. </p>
<p>He didn’t even know himself any more if it was a good idea or not. Obie had him feeling so upside down. He’d trusted his man with his life for as long as he could remember, but this just didn’t feel right. </p>
<p>“I understand, Obie, I do. Not tonight, then. We’ll postpone.”</p>
<p>“Good,” Stane hissed.</p>
<p>Tony blocked Obie out and walked off to the dancefloor with Stephen. </p>
<p>It was awkward at first, with both of them trying to both lead as they danced, but it didn’t take long for them to work out an unspoken arrangement. Neither of them really needed to lead, as they both just sort of clung to one another and slowly swayed in time to the music. Tony didn’t remember when he’d last felt as calm as he did in that moment. With Stephen there, the music, the swaying… everything just felt good. By the time Tony was getting up on stage to make his big speech for the night, he felt solidly in control of himself again. </p>
<p>One look at Obie talking to Stephen at their table though, and Tony knew he wouldn’t be making the big announcement tonight. </p>
<p>Tony didn’t really remember the rest of the launch event. The guilt settled too heavy in his stomach when he thought about his cowardice at not telling the world he wouldn’t be making weapons any more. But Obie was right, of course he was right. Tony just had to keep reminding himself that he trusted Obie. </p>
<p>Why was it becoming harder to stomach that truth though? </p>
<p>When he and Stephen got back in the car later on, Tony asked JARVIS for control to revert to driver, just to give him something to focus on while he drove Stephen back home. </p>
<p>Tony pulled up to the curb, wondering what he should say. There was a weight on his shoulders, and a tension Tony was sure they were both feeling. </p>
<p>This was it. </p>
<p>As much as Tony had tried to ignore it, this moment, here in the car, was potentially the end of what was between them. It could potentially be the last time they had to share a space. Tony knew he should say something. Ask Stephen out for dinner next week, or at least fix lunchtime visit or just something, anything, to ensure this wasn’t their final time together. </p>
<p>“Do you want to come up for coffee?” Stephen suddenly offered. </p>
<p>That worked.  </p>
<p>They were both looking forwards through the windshield, silence filling the air around them as Tony processed the question. As he ran it backwards and forwards through his mind to check if this was what he suspected it was. </p>
<p>“You know I can’t drink coffee anymore, doctors’ orders,” Tony replied, slowly. His heart was pounding. </p>
<p>“Good,” Stephen breathed. “I don’t actually have any intention of making coffee.”</p>
<p>Kissing, touching, fucking, licking, <em>indulging</em> in Stephen was everything Tony could have hoped for. It wasn’t like he lived the life of a monk, but he also didn’t get out there as much as he had in his 20s any more. Everything with Stephen just seemed to work. </p>
<p>He fell asleep, content, on Stephen’s very comfortable bed. Unsure what the future had to hold for them, but intrigued and just a touch hopeful. </p>
<p>Maybe he couldn’t have everything in the world, but maybe he’d get to have this. </p>
<p>Tony woke up in Stephen’s bed just before 6 am and cursed himself. He knew soon he’d have to wake Stephen up to say his goodbyes, and hope the other man didn’t think he was just trying to sneak out. It was a nice feeling though, waking up next to Stephen, not feeling guilt or angst for what they’d been up to the night before. </p>
<p>Stephen took being roused from his sleep surprisingly well. Something Tony put down to him being a doctor, a profession Tony knew drilled into its juniors the ability to work on minimal sleep. </p>
<p>“Do you need a ride? Since you sent your car home,” Stephen sleepily asked while Tony was still getting dressed.  </p>
<p>“I asked JARVIS to send me one back. I got it sorted.” Tony wondered if Stephen would have driven him himself, or if he was offering to get Tony an Uber. Having Stephen drive was such an immediate no to Tony. But that was a conversation to have another time. </p>
<p>Soon as he was fully dressed in last night’s tux, bowtie slung artfully around his neck undone, Tony gave into the desire to kiss Stephen. The urge to take off his clothes and get back in the bed was strong, so very strong. </p>
<p>“Thanks for a pretty great night, Stephen. I hope we can do it again some other time. Sorry to wake you up so early, just...”</p>
<p>“I wouldn’t have wanted to wake up and find you just gone,” Stephen said, confirming Tony’s thoughts. “And thanks, I hope too that we can organize to, ahem, see each other again at some point.”</p>
<p>“But no pizza,” Tony quipped, shooting Stephen a blinding smile. </p>
<p>“No pizza.”</p>
<p>Soon Tony was home again. He took a quick shower and changed into something less formal than the tux – though, it would have been harder to have put on something <em>more</em> formal. He felt very distracted at breakfast, but he was thankful only May seemed to notice. Happy and Peter were oblivious to the way Tony was checking his phone for messages every 30 seconds, with the hope that Stephen had text him. </p>
<p>The plate of eggs Happy put down in front of Tony looked so overcooked Tony wondered briefly if there was some use for them as industrial filler. He couldn’t stop himself taking a photo and sending it to Stephen. </p>
<p>Happy did notice the way Tony smiled at his phone when Stephen replied with an offer of cooking them lunch. </p>
<p>Lunch… wow. That sounded… amazing. </p>
<p>“You’re smiley,” Happy said. </p>
<p>“You also didn’t sleep at home last night,” Peter chipped in, ruining Tony’s belief that only May had noticed something was up. </p>
<p>“Well, I had the launch gala last night.” </p>
<p>“How did it go? Did the prototype work?” Peter asked enthusiastically. He did tend to be easier to distract than his aunt. </p>
<p>“Like a dream. We’ll be rolling out more beta testers before the end of the month.” Tony forced a few mouthfuls of Happy’s terrible eggs down and grabbed a piece of toast to munch on to try and get rid of the taste. How could they be so rubbery and yet so slimy? What had Happy done to them? </p>
<p>“It’s so cool, so really, really cool,” Peter enthused. He babbled on for a while about the potential further applications of the technology he’d thought up himself.  </p>
<p>Tony smiled indulgently at the kid, making encouraging sounds when appropriate. Peter just meant so much to him, moved his heart in indescribable ways, made his whole soul feel so much lighter. It was impossible to imagine how life would be in six years when Peter went off to college. There’d been some talk from Peter at one point about how much he wanted to go to college early, just like Tony had. But Tony had sat him down and they had a conversation about how a few years of academic work could be made up for, but the life experiences of high school? Those he’d never get back. Peter had eventually agreed and dropped the topic. </p>
<p>After breakfast, Tony text Stephen again, asking if he wanted anything brought over for their lunch together later. He frowned a little when he had no reply. Approaching lunchtime, Tony tried to phone Stephen and was confused why it was going straight to voicemail. After some internal debate as to whether it made him look desperate or just crazy, Tony got in his car and drove over to Stephen’s place. For all he knew, Stephen had just been too busy to reply to his messages. For the surgeon had seemed very enthusiastic about the idea of him coming over for lunch. </p>
<p>Never in Tony’s wildest dreams had he expected he’d turn up to Stephen’s building to discover police all over the block. He felt like his head was under water as he overheard some of the residents talking about how that doctor had been blown up in the parking garage. </p>
<p>Tony, for a moment, felt like his heart had stopped. </p>
<p>*** </p>
<p>It was a few days before Stephen was awake. And a few more after that before Tony was allowed in to visit him. At first, Stephen would wake up, see Tony, smile, and at the most get out a hello before he fell asleep again. </p>
<p>When he skipped a board meeting to sit with Stephen, Obie let his displeasure be known. Tony was summoned to his godfather’s office the next time he was in the Stark Industries building. </p>
<p>“I haven’t minded you spending time at that hospital, Tony. I know you've been doing work on the ground building this company’s reputation, but you need to put your actual work before those dying little children.” </p>
<p>Tony wanted to squirm out of his godfather’s eyesight. </p>
<p>“I haven’t been working on the robotics course lately. We’re on a hiatus.” </p>
<p>“Oh? Then what have you been there for?” </p>
<p>“Stephen, Stephen Strange. He was hurt, hurt badly. I was visiting him. I meant to leave earlier, but his hand twitched and I really thought he was going to wake up. I’m sorry I forgot the meeting, Obie.” </p>
<p>Obie crossed his arms in front of his chest and stared into Tony’s eyes. </p>
<p>“What happened to him?” </p>
<p>“They’re still investigating. But I feel like…” </p>
<p>“Yes?” </p>
<p>“I’m wondering if it’s my fault,” Tony admitted. That had been the worry going through his mind. The worry he hadn’t yet vocalised to anyone. “It just seems too coincidental that someone tried to poison me, and then weeks later, a car that’s almost identical to my own gets blown up.” </p>
<p>Obie drummed his fingers on the desk in front of him. </p>
<p>“Almost identical?” </p>
<p>“Stephen had practically the same car as me. And…” </p>
<p>“Yes?” Obie prompted. </p>
<p>“I’d spent the night at his place, but my car wasn’t there. I had JARVIS drive it home again.” </p>
<p>Obie was quiet for a while. </p>
<p>“I see.” </p>
<p>“I think whoever did this to Stephen, it was intended for me.” </p>
<p>Obie sighed. “Oh Tony, Tony, Tony.” </p>
<p>Shame crept into Tony’s mind. Whenever Obie used that voice, it meant Tony had screwed up somehow. Tony felt increasingly like he always screwed up. Realistically, the business was doing well, Tony was doing pretty well, but Obie just had that power over him. </p>
<p>“I think, in the interest of keeping Dr. Strange safe, you should stay away from him. And the hospital too, while you’re at it. How would you feel if one of the children was hurt because someone is out to get you?” </p>
<p>Tony swallowed. Ever since he’d realized the car bomb had been meant for him, similar thoughts had been playing through his mind. </p>
<p>“You don’t want the good doctor caught up in all, do you?” </p>
<p>“No.” </p>
<p>“I think it would be for the best if you just cut all contact with him. Let him think you don’t care. And then perhaps whoever is after you will leave him alone too. Blank him, he’ll soon get the message and back off.” </p>
<p>It was on the tip of Tony’s tongue to tell him no. To tell him he couldn’t do that, Stephen needed him. </p>
<p>But Obie wasn't wrong, and that was what really stung. </p>
<p>“I didn’t want to tell you this, Tony, even though Happy thought you should know. You’ve been receiving a lot more death threats recently. We had to get in extra people to check the mail. Lots of bad people out there with a death wish against you, my boy.” </p>
<p>“What?” Tony asked, incredulous. What he didn’t ask was <em>why would anyone want to kill me?</em> The answer was just too obvious to anyone who spent a few seconds thinking about it. </p>
<p>“I’m afraid so. I really think we need to get you a few more bodyguards.” </p>
<p>“Happy does a great job,” Tony defended. </p>
<p>“He does a great job at being your friend-for-pay,” Obie said calmly. </p>
<p>Tony clenched his fists. He hated it when Obie put it like that. Yes, he paid Happy, but that wasn’t the reason they were friends. Obie just never seemed to understand that though. </p>
<p>“I have had background checks done already for two ex-military bodyguards for you. They’ll be accompanying you from Friday. Please don’t try to shake them, Tony. This really is for your own good, and for the good of those around you. We need to catch whoever is trying to do this to you before next time you don’t get so lucky.” </p>
<p>Tony nodded, feeling defeated. Obie wasn’t wrong, unfortunately. </p>
<p>He visited Stephen a few more times, but come Thursday evening, Tony knew his time with Stephen was at an end. The new bodyguards started the next day, and Tony knew without having to ask that they’d be reporting back all his actions to Obie. </p>
<p>Come Thursday, Tony went to visit Stephen. He was nervous, sick with anxiety for what had to be done. It wasn’t just Stephen Tony had to leave behind, it was the kids in Robot Club as well. </p>
<p>Stephen seemed so happy to be getting out the next day. Tony didn’t want to take that from him by telling him the truth. </p>
<p>“See you around,” Tony lied, and lied, and lied. It was a conversation mostly of lies. He hadn’t lied so much since the night he’d almost fatally messed his heart up, all those years ago. </p>
<p>It was hard letting go of both Stephen and Robot Club, even though it was definitely in the best interests of both parties. </p>
<p>A little over two weeks later though, Stephen came crashing back into Tony’s life, refusing to be ghosted. Tony agreed to give Stephen his car without much of a thought. It wasn’t like he didn’t have others, and he had gotten Stephen’s car blown up. </p>
<p>Happy dragged Tony away from the confrontation fairly soon after. </p>
<p>“What had you so spooked down there?” They were in the elevator back up to Tony’s floor. </p>
<p>“There were two guys in the corner. I think they’ve been following you lately.” </p>
<p>Tony clenched his hands and took a deep, relaxing breath. He didn’t know how to explain to Happy the two guys who were following him had been hired by Obie. That they were his protection. That Happy had been deemed as surplus and as being too ineffective. </p>
<p>“Thanks, Hap. You’ve always got my back.” </p>
<p>“Of course!” </p>
<p>With two bodyguards and Happy trailing him, Tony thought he might have a harder time sneaking out that night than he did. He had to explain to Stephen though. Had to help soothe the pain he could see as much as he could. </p>
<p>Tony hadn’t meant to sleep with Stephen again. He didn’t regret it, but it definitely hadn’t been planned. Leaving him the next morning hurt Tony all over again. He felt raw, strung out, and just plain upset. It was something in the combination of finally coming clean about the nastiest parts of his life (the weapons), and getting to talk about one of the deepest pains of his life (losing Pepper). </p>
<p>That had to be the end of it. Tony Stark was not good for Stephen Strange. Tony felt like a fool for ever having believed he might have been able to have something normal with the doctor. </p>
<p>Being with him, spending time with him, getting to know him, had all just felt so right, and Tony was sick of feeling wrong all the time. He never used to ever feel like that, not in his youth. Not even when a drug addiction had wrecked his heart, literally and metaphorically. Not even when his drinking problem had led to more than a few blank days in his memories. There were periods of the time after losing Pepper Tony could barely recall. He’d existed, and that had been all. </p>
<p>Before he lost Pepper, Tony remembered how he’d have fleeting moments of feeling invincible. After Pepper died, Tony had become so aware of his own mortality. He wasn’t the person he used to be before. He’d never be that person again. </p>
<p>Now he’d gone and lost Stephen too. It hurt in an indescribable way. More of a low, constant ebb of upset than the harsh, hacking, squeeze of pain that followed Pepper’s disappearance. The only real connection between the two were the thoughts in Tony’s mind that constantly wondered what could have been. </p>
<p>At least Pepper was gone, that door was shut. Stephen was alive, and breathing, and <em>there</em>, and Tony still wasn’t free to find out what their future could have been. </p>
<p>For weeks following that, Stephen did at least stay away. There were times of weakness when Tony went to text him something. Times he just wants to say hi and ask how Stephen was doing. Or the times he wanted to message him back with some of the great feedback they were having on the artificial touch project. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, he didn’t. Tony stayed away. </p>
<p>Obie seemed happier lately. Tony felt some relief that his godfather hadn’t completely turned his back on him. It certainly made their working relationship more harmonious. And with the deadline for signing the military contracts nearly at its endpoint, Obie had finally stopped pushing. </p>
<p>November and December were bad months for Tony, what with the anniversaries of both Pepper and his parents leaving his life. Five years after the disappearance of Pepper, Tony finally did what he’d been craving to do for so long and called a press conference. </p>
<p>Happy stood at the back of the pressroom, enthusiastically giving Tony the thumbs up. </p>
<p>“I’ve come to realize lately that I have more to offer this world than just making things that blow up. And that is why, effective immediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark International. I won’t be taking questions today, but a press sheet will be made available later. Thank you for your time.” </p>
<p>Tony slid off the stage to Happy’s side. Together, they made their way through the crowds of people and photographers all clamouring to get an exclusive. </p>
<p>“Let’s go to the drive thru,” Tony suggested, slipping into the driver’s seat of Happy’s town car. </p>
<p>Happy didn’t bother to protest and got in on the passenger side. “Sure, whatever you say, boss.” </p>
<p>“She’d be really proud of you,” Happy said later, just before he took another bite of his burger. </p>
<p>“Yeah?”</p>
<p>“For wanting more for yourself, for wanting to be happy.” </p>
<p>Tony wiped his mouth on the napkin that’d come with his food.</p>
<p>“I do, Hap, I do just want to feel better. This feels like the start of a new chapter. It just feels weird to be celebrating it without her, you know?”</p>
<p>“I know. Nothing’ll ever replace Pepper. She was one in a million, billion, trillion.” </p>
<p>Tony couldn’t argue there. </p>
<p>He should have predicted Obie would be waiting for him when he got home. He was sat in Tony’s workshop, flicking through things on one of the secure StarkPads Tony left in there for doodling ideas down on. </p>
<p>“Tony.” </p>
<p>Tony walked in and over to where DUM-E was sleeping in his charging station. </p>
<p>“Hi, Obie.” </p>
<p>“Had a fun day, I see?” </p>
<p>Tony picked up a can of oil and started to apply it carefully to DUM-E’s joints. </p>
<p>“It was okay.” </p>
<p>Tony did his best not to turn around and look at his godfather. He had nothing to be afraid of, not when it came to Obie. At worst, the older man would be disappointed in him. Deep down he knew this, but that didn’t stop the shiver going up Tony’s spine. </p>
<p>“You’re lucky we’re only down 10 points right now.” Tony said nothing and kept his focus on DUM-E. “Tony,” Obie sighed when Tony kept ignoring him, “we're a weapons manufacturer. The government will think we’re playing hardball after today, but I’m sure by tomorrow they’ll want your signature down on paper again. ”   </p>
<p>“Obie,” Tony said softly, finally turning to look at him. “I just don't want a body count to be our only legacy. You know we’re no where close to working out where this leak is coming from with the weapons.”  </p>
<p>“That's what we do. We're ironmongers. We make weapons.”</p>
<p>“<em>We</em> don’t do anything. <em>I</em> do it all, and I refuse to anymore. I’ve done enough work, set up enough new departments that we’ll fill the funding gap and expand past what we were doing before within the next two quarters. You need to trust me, please.” </p>
<p>Obie stood up and walked to Tony’s side of the workroom. </p>
<p>“There’s another thing we could do, another asset we should be looking into.” </p>
<p>“Yeah?” </p>
<p>“JARVIS.” </p>
<p>Tony frowned. “What about JARVIS?” </p>
<p>“There must be a way to commercialize him. Do you know how many companies are trying to make smart home tech work seamlessly and failing? And here you are, living in a world controlled by the most impressive artificial intelligence ever seen, and yet, we’re not working on smart home tech. There’s ubiquitous computing going on everywhere, but you, who has almost beyond a doubt created the greatest artificial intelligence the world has seen, aren’t interested in getting involved.” </p>
<p>Tony took a step back, his mouth suddenly dry. </p>
<p>“JARVIS isn’t for sale.”</p>
<p>“Just give me a copy of his base code, Tony. We’ll have our people work on it, see what we can come up with,” Obie shrugged. He sounded so casual about it all. </p>
<p>“Obie, I can’t.” Tony turned back to DUM-E and put his finger on the sensor that alerted the bot to wake up. </p>
<p>“Can’t, or won’t? What are you afraid of, hums? I can’t see what the issue would be. You’ve probably put millions of dollars into developing JARVIS, isn’t it time he paid you back?” </p>
<p>DUM-E woke up and wiggled around, excited to find Tony was there. </p>
<p>“He’s not for sale,” Tony repeated again, voice harsh. “We can talk about other things, but JARVIS is not on the table. I’m not giving you the code.” </p>
<p>His heart was racing. He’d never been this stern with Obie before. It was making Tony’s stomach turn sour. </p>
<p>“It's my name on the side of the building.” Tony could almost taste the bile on the back of his mouth. How could Obie want to give JARVIS to other people? </p>
<p>“I understand,” Obie sighed. “I’ll talk to you later, Tony. Maybe when you’ve had more time to see sense.” </p>
<p>“There’s no point,” Tony called after him. “I’m never changing my mind on this.” </p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Obie wasn’t talking to him, and Tony couldn’t have been any happier at the change in circumstances. The fuss over his announcement died down soon enough, a small blessing of the 24-hour news cycle. Nothing ever stayed big news for long, especially not when it was about business and not some celebrity. </p>
<p>Peter had taken to spending a lot more time in the workshop recently, to Tony’s great delight. He knew in just a few years he’d have to say bye to the kid and watch him go off to college. In the meantime, Tony was happy to take any time he could with his non-adopted, non-biological son. </p>
<p>And then one day, Peter didn’t turn up to the workshop. It struck Tony as a little odd as Peter had definitely been in the middle of soldering a few things the night before. Tony shrugged it off initially. Peter was young, he had a multitude of interests that also needed his focus sometimes. </p>
<p>Things definitely got weirder though when Obie turned up again, for the first time in so long. </p>
<p>“How are you doing, my boy?” Obie said with great cheer, clapping Tony on the back. </p>
<p>“Good, thanks. I might have fixed the bug in the new Stark phone. The face recognition was pretty shitty, but I’ve gone into the coding to change a few things around. It seems happier now.” </p>
<p>“Happier?” </p>
<p>Tony shrugged, “Sure.” </p>
<p>Obie chuckled. “That was always you, Tony, personifying objects, giving them <em>personalities</em>,” he said, like it was something dirty. </p>
<p>“Well, I just always thought, why not?” </p>
<p>There was a pit of dread in Tony’s stomach again. Something felt off. Something had been off for months, if Tony really allowed himself to think about it. </p>
<p>“I gave some of the development team a copy of JARVIS’s early code. We found something in one of those old machines you used to use.” </p>
<p>“You what?” Tony was aghast. </p>
<p>“I just thought, if you could see a sample of what they were trying to do with JARVIS, you’d perhaps be more on board.” </p>
<p>“How dare you?” Tony clenched his fists and stood up from his work table, so he could face Obie face on. </p>
<p>“How dare I? Tony, Tony, Tony,” Obie sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Why do you have to be so stubborn about this?” </p>
<p>“JARVIS isn’t for anyone else.” </p>
<p>“Well, it’s done now. I just came here to ask if you could help with a bug fix.” </p>
<p>“No,” Tony snapped back instantly. “Never.” </p>
<p>“It’s just, someone had the idea of trying JARVIS in one of the leftover Jericho systems we had… and I thought to myself, well now there’s an idea. A smart missile the likes of which no one had ever seen.” </p>
<p>Tony could feel his hands shaking with the rage that was building. </p>
<p>“Except, even though this JARVIS is about ten years behind what you have now, he’s refusing to cooperate. He won’t work for any of the engineers. I just need a fix.” </p>
<p>“No,” Tony hissed. “Never. You get your dirty hands off my AI, delete it all, Obie. Delete it all, or I’ll fire everyone involved.” </p>
<p>Obie sighed again, and walked over to the nearest stool, propping himself up on it. </p>
<p>“I’m sorry, Tony.” </p>
<p>Tony remained quiet. Fury and just a touch of fear were zinging around his senses right now. He could hear the rush of his own blood in his ears as his blood pressure was no doubt spiking. </p>
<p>“Delete it,” Tony insisted again. “And by fire everyone, I mean you too.” </p>
<p>“I love you, my boy. And it hurts me so much as I have no idea when I lost you. I barely recognize you anymore. I have loved you like my own since you were a baby. And yet, you keep breaking my heart. Over, and over, and <em>over</em> again.” </p>
<p>Something struck Tony just then. </p>
<p>For all the times both of them had mentioned JARVIS in conversation, his AI hadn’t replied, hadn’t checked in, hadn’t given any sign at all that he was present there in the workshop. </p>
<p>Obie took out his phone and dialed something in. </p>
<p>The lab doors shut. </p>
<p>“You can't afford to be this naive, Tony. Without me in your life protecting you, do you know how many people would try to take advantage of you?” </p>
<p>Things clicked into place in Tony’s brain. Everything he’d been mulling over but couldn’t put a finger on seemed to just connect before his eyes. </p>
<p>He immediately felt like he’d been punched in the stomach. </p>
<p>“It was you, wasn’t it? Who was selling the weapons under the table.” </p>
<p>“You were always so smart. And yet, so very weak in so many ways.” </p>
<p>Obie smiling and tapping a few more things into his phone was all the warning Tony had. Suddenly he could feel it, an electrical pulse zapping through his body as his custom-made pacemaker released a jump of electricity. </p>
<p>Tony found himself on his knees within a split second. </p>
<p>“I don’t negotiate with terrorists,” Tony grunted out. </p>
<p>“I don’t want a negotiation, that implies I’m giving you something in return. I just want you to tell me how to make JARVIS operate within the weapons we have left. If we can’t build anymore since we have no legitimate reason to, I’m going to take what we have, supercharge them, and sell them at ten times the price to the highest bidder.” </p>
<p>“Fuck you,” Tony snarled, feeling another jolt inside in response. </p>
<p>“It was remarkably easy to use the early JARVIS code to find a flaw in the present one – so I’m told. You know much of this tech stuff goes over my head. But finding out you’d left a critical flaw in your pacemaker now, well that was just silly, Tony. It’s almost like you’re asking for someone to hack it.” </p>
<p>Tony cringed to himself. There had always been the risk someone could hack his internal tech. He found himself on the floor and in spasm as another shock ran through him. The pacemaker had the ability to shock him should he need it. It’d never occurred to Tony that someone might use that against him. </p>
<p>“I’m going to zap you, then maybe slow your heart down, and after that? Speed it up again. We can do this all day until you finally see sense and give in. I’ve had enough of it all, I must confess. I’ve had enough of playing second fiddle to you, Tony. You swan around like you own the world, and that’s just not very fair, is it?” </p>
<p>Tony was too busy trying to breathe to be able to reply. </p>
<p>“The really fun thing is, if for whatever reason you decide you’re not going to play? I have a back-up plan. You do love that little foundling family you’ve put together, don’t you? The idiot thug, Happy, that insipid nurse, May, and Peter, of course Peter. That pathetic child. Does he ever shut the fuck up? They’re all going to die because of you. That’ll be your last gift to the world if you don’t help my team fix your broken old tech.” </p>
<p>There were tears in Tony’s eyes now. He knew there were. If he had breath to spare, he’d be screaming, or shouting, or pummeling Obie to death with his own hands. </p>
<p>“You can’t… You can’t… <em>fix</em> him,” Tony finally managed to get out. “He decides what he wants to do. It isn’t a flaw that he’s refusing, it’s just how he is.” </p>
<p>Obie tutted and rolled his eyes. </p>
<p>“Wow. We have so much to work on, don’t we, Tony?” </p>
<p>They were in the workshop for hours before Obie pulled out a chair to roll Tony out of the workshop. </p>
<p>“Your guests have arrived,” he whispered into Tony’s ear. Tony could barely twitch at that point in response, too consumed with pain, grief, and still an overwhelming amount of rage. </p>
<p>Blearily Tony could make out Happy, May, Peter, Ned, and Stephen all lined up on the giant couch in his apartment. If Tony had felt he couldn’t feel any worse after hours of torture by Stane, he’d been wrong. </p>
<p>Tony would never forget the events of the day Obadiah Stane died. </p>
<p>They played out across his mind in his worst moments. Always there to pick at and tear apart any shred of happiness on his darkest days. But his family would live on, because together they were strong, because they loved one another unselfishly. And Obie had never been able to understand that. </p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Tony was due to be moved out of the hospital soon and back home to continue his recovery. The scant time he’d been there so far hadn’t felt too awful, given that Tony had been sleeping for so much of it. There wasn’t much the staff could do for him. It was unknown what the long-term effect might be on his heart of what Stane had done to him, much of it depended on how well his own body could heal. Tony was itching to be back home so he could start work on securing his pacemaker. That, he reasoned, was at least something he could work on that his family couldn’t tell him could wait until later. </p>
<p>Tony had started on preliminary upgrades already, almost as soon as he’d been able to sit up in bed again. He was startled out of his work by the sudden appearance of two men in his private hospital room.</p>
<p>“Mr. Stark? My name is Agent Coulson. I’m from the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.” </p>
<p>He was wearing a smart suit and a haircut that looked like his barber had been working off a Lego figurine. Of most importance to Tony though, Coulson didn’t offer up his hand to shake. </p>
<p>“The what now? That’s not real.” Tony took off his reading glasses and put them and his tablet aside. He rubbed at the bridge of his nose to ease the red marks left behind by the glasses. </p>
<p>It had been two days since Obadiah Stane’s attempt to murder him. While he was feeling better, he knew he was still vulnerable. </p>
<p>“We’re very much real. I’m here to talk to you about the events surrounding the death of Obadiah Stane.” </p>
<p>Tony rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, still trying to get up to speed with the conversation. </p>
<p>“How did you get in here? I want my lawyer. I’m not talking to anyone without my lawyer. Happy?” Tony called out, wondering where his friend had gone. Happy had posted himself outside of the room since Tony had arrived at the hospital, determined to keep Tony safe as best he could. </p>
<p>“I’m not here to charge you with anything, Mr. Stark. We just want to know about the weapons, and the technology you’ve been building to hunt them down. In particular, the test flights we’ve spotted of what looks like some kind of unmanned aerial drone? That’s of a great deal of interest to a number of people at the agency.” </p>
<p>“Classified, I’m afraid, Agent.” </p>
<p>“You don’t get to use that line on me.” </p>
<p>Tony struggled to try and sit up a bit more so he could make this a fairer fight. </p>
<p>“Look, I nearly died like, two days ago, if it has even been that long? I don’t want to talk to you. Go. Away.” </p>
<p>Another man took the opportunity to walk into his room at that point. Tony started to wonder why they’d put him in a room with a door on it at all. </p>
<p>Tony threw his arms up and sighed. “I guess my security detail is just gone? You didn’t kill them, did you?” </p>
<p>“What, little old me?” the new guy asked. He walked closer, his leather trench coat and eyepatch making Tony wonder if he was having some kind of hallucination. </p>
<p>“Yeah, you. Or the suit over there.” </p>
<p>“We didn’t kill him. We may have led him to believe Maggie Smith was visiting the hospital today – he was off like a shot to try and find her. Come on, Mr. Stark, is that any way to greet us? ” </p>
<p>“I don’t know who you are! Or what you’re doing here. He just walks in and tells me he’s from some fictional agency. I’d know if there was a Strategic Homeland Innovation Team, or whatever it was.” </p>
<p>“You were playing Candy Crush on your tablet,” Coulson exclaimed, defending himself. “He wasn’t asleep.” </p>
<p>“My name is Director Fury, Mr. Stark,” Fury said, ignoring Coulson’s protests. “And we’re about to become very good friends.” </p>
<p>“Nope, nope, fuck this,” Tony went for his emergency alert button, pressing it rapidly. “I don’t know why you’re here, but you gotta go.” </p>
<p>No one came running through the door. </p>
<p>“Did you disconnect this?” </p>
<p>“Maybe,” Agent Coulson shrugged. </p>
<p>Tony knew he was way too weak to make a run for it, and from the looks of Director Fury and Agent Coulson, he was probably going to get a few bullets in the back if he tried. </p>
<p>Sighing, Tony leaned back against his mountain of pillows. “What do you want?” </p>
<p>“That’s no way to talk to us. Like I said, we want to work with you.” </p>
<p>“We made your little problem go away, just to say hello,” Coulson added. </p>
<p>“Which problem? There’s like, thirty or forty right now,” Tony said flippantly. </p>
<p>“Your godfather’s death, Mr. Stark. Eventually, the agencies were going to start asking who did it, and why. Sooner or later they were going to work out May Parker should technically be charged for murder and that it wasn’t self-defence. And because we’re really nice, we’re going to cover up Stane’s death altogether. The fewer questions asked about the weapons that went missing, the better.” </p>
<p>“Oh great, I get to be part of a literal government cover-up. Fantastic. Dream come true.” </p>
<p>Tony didn’t want to admit his relief. Not yet. Not when they were clearly gearing up to ask him for something. </p>
<p>He also wasn’t going to admit he’d guessed as much about May. </p>
<p>Somewhere in the confusion caused by the tower’s defense system, Stane had been killed. Tony had already deduced for himself that May must have done it. He’d thanked her for it privately, well out of sight or hearing range of Happy or Peter, without outright referencing what she’d done. He knew they’d both sleep better at night knowing there was no way that piece of shit could harm their family again. </p>
<p>Fury raised the eyebrow of his remaining eye. “You want the world to know you’re an idiot who can lose WMDs, Stark? ‘Cause that’s what it looks like from the outside.” </p>
<p>“No,” he sighed. </p>
<p>“Or that you were duped for what, thirty-four years by your godfather?” </p>
<p>Well, that stung. </p>
<p>“Right, right, because baby me should have been more suspicious? If you want to blame anyone for that, blame Howard.” </p>
<p>Tony wasn’t anywhere near recovered enough to be having conversations about Obie yet, and definitely not with two suspicious government types. </p>
<p>“What do you want in return? Not that I even asked you to do any of this, mind you.”  </p>
<p>“We want to know more about the tech powering that suit of yours. What can I say, we’re curious. If it is even a suit? There’s been some debate in the agency if that thing is piloted or a UAV. Perhaps you’d like to clear that up for us?” </p>
<p>“Nope,” Tony yawned. “Well, thanks for visiting. It has been a blast, but I have some recovering to do.” </p>
<p>Fury and Coulson looked at each other. Coulson nodded in silent agreement with Fury and stood up. </p>
<p>“I’d like to say it has been a pleasure, Mr. Stark, but…” </p>
<p>“I’m a cantankerous prick?” Tony finished for him. </p>
<p>“Nothing personal, I just really hate the smell of hospitals,” Coulson said flatly. </p>
<p>“They are gross,” Tony agreed. </p>
<p>“We’ll be in touch again soon,” Fury informed him, also standing up now. </p>
<p>“I’d rather if you didn’t. You could just, like, leave me alone? I’m going to be busy soon, making stuffed toys for orphans and all that.” And trying to make it up to Stephen. If there was even any way to ever do that. </p>
<p>“No can do, I’m afraid, Mr. Stark. You've become part of a bigger universe, you just don't know it yet.”</p>
<p>Tony fake yawned. “If it’s all the same, that sounds pretty dramatic. I’m doing pretty well on my own, but thanks for what you’ve done and all. Maybe I can offer you one free consultation to show my gratitude.” </p>
<p>Fury looked over Tony. “Maybe when you’re actually able to walk again, I’ll take you up on that.” </p>
<p>“No weapons,” Tony quickly stipulated. </p>
<p>“Sure,” Fury agreed, suspiciously easily. “We’re having a bit of trouble with an, ah, defrosting issue. You might be able to help.” </p>
<p>“Defrosting? Like your freezers?” Tony took it from the expression on Coulson’s face it was in fact nothing like defrosting a freezer. </p>
<p>“Something like that. Seventy years of ice, tricky to deal with.” There was an odd glint in Coulson’s eyes as he said this, almost as if he was finding something in the conversation funny. </p>
<p>“Sure, sounds great. I’ll build you a giant microwave or something.” Tony gave up. He really needed to rest, but he vowed he’d fight them later. “With a super defrost setting.” </p>
<p>Coulson and Fury exchanged a look. </p>
<p>“I’m not sure a giant microwave is going to work,” Fury slowly responded. </p>
<p>“Yeah, yeah,” Tony sighed. “Well, we’ll talk later, okay? I trust you’ve stalked me enough to know how to get in touch?” </p>
<p>“Oh, we know your inside seam measurements, Mr. Stark. Don’t worry, we know how to find you,” Coulson replied. </p>
<p>“Delightful,” Tony clapped his hands together and heaved a weary sigh. “Glad to hear it.” </p>
<p>Happy came running into the room just in time to meet Fury and Coulson in the doorway on their way out. </p>
<p>“Hey, you lied! Maggie Smith was not down there.” </p>
<p>“My mistake,” Coulson said blandly. </p>
<p>“Wait, what were you two doing in here?” </p>
<p>“Candy stripers,” Tony called out to Happy. “They just came to give me a little cheer.” </p>
<p>“Right…” Happy drew out, clearly not believing it. It was a little impossible to believe given the stern looks on Coulson and Fury’s faces. “Sure.” He stepped aside and let the two men leave. </p>
<p>“You’re okay, right, boss?” Happy asked Tony, walking closer. “Sorry I left my post. He said Maggie Smith, and you know how much I love her.” </p>
<p>“It’s okay, Happy. I’d have wanted to see her too.” </p>
<p>Happy put his hand on Tony’s shoulder. “It’s gonna be okay. Stephen said he would come see you later when he gets off work. I bumped into him on my way back.” </p>
<p>“I’m glad they let him return to work after everything.” Tony hesitated a second before he spoke again. “Do you think me and him could ever make it work, Happ? After everything that’s happened?” </p>
<p>“Yeah! Of course,” Happy said a little too brightly, a little too quickly. </p>
<p>“Right.” </p>
<p>“And you know…” </p>
<p>Tony looked up at Happy. “What do I know?” </p>
<p>Happy smiled at him and Tony felt some of the internal pressure release. “Even if it doesn’t work out, you still got me, always, okay? And May and Peter aren’t going anywhere either.” </p>
<p>“I know, Hap, I know.” Tony put his hand on top of Happy’s and patted it gently, his heart filling with love for his friend. </p>
<p>“And when you get outta here, I'll get you all the cheeseburgers you could ever want, first thing.” </p>
<p>Tony laughed, “That actually sounds pretty perfect.” </p>
<p>Tony fell asleep thinking of cheeseburgers. </p>
<p>“I wasn’t sure if you’d wake up before dinnertime,” Stephen greeted him when Tony slowly came to next. His head felt like it was full of cotton wool, but his heart felt lighter for seeing Stephen sitting there, beside his bed, looking healthy and whole. </p>
<p>Tony’s stomach fluttered and he found himself smiling without realizing it. </p>
<p>“And miss the delicious food they serve?” </p>
<p>Stephen being there had to mean something. If he was planning on being so angry with Tony that he didn’t ever want to talk to him again, he wouldn’t have come. </p>
<p>“I heard you were awake long enough today that you even managed a few conversations. Thought I’d come by and try the experience for myself.” </p>
<p>Tony let out a huff of amusement. “I’d like that, a lot.” </p>
<p>He wanted to touch Stephen so badly. He looked so good. So much better than the last two times Tony had seen him, at least. </p>
<p>Stephen smiled at Tony and sat down in the visitor’s chair next to his bed. It wasn’t particularly deep or meaningful conversation they had that night, that was yet to come. But it was enough to leave feeling Tony at peace with the world as he fell asleep that night. He found himself oddly excited for waking up again, already keen to spend more time with Stephen. </p>
<p>The years had not been kind to Tony’s heart, literally or metaphorically. Losing Pepper was a pain he carried daily, kept afloat only by the love and support from Happy and even Obie. (Although, Obie’s contribution was something Tony would need several therapists and a lifetime of support to dissect at a later time.) </p>
<p>The introduction of Peter and May Parker to his life had bolstered Tony more than any amount of work could ever have. </p>
<p>But still, there were still all these empty spaces in Tony’s life. Little gaps where he was sure something was meant to go, but nothing ever seemed to fit. Not flings, or alcohol. Nor high-risk adventures, or gambling. He’d tried, and tried, and <em>tried</em> to fill in some of the emptiness inside.  </p>
<p>And then he met Stephen Strange. He fit. It was really that simple. There’d always be some emptiness inside of him. An aching for the childhood he lost, for the parents, friends, Pepper, that he mourned every day. Stephen calmed it though. He made the cavernous space in Tony’s heart feel less daunting. </p>
<p>Tony vowed to himself that day from his hospital bed that he’d do whatever he could to make up for his recent behavior towards Stephen, and if he was permitted, spend every day falling ever more in love with him. </p>
<p>The End. </p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So... the last scene was my original end to the first fic. And also the reason there's a lack of canon-characters in my supposed non-magical AU fic. If there was ever any question of why there were OCs, that's entirely why. Shirley is actually a character in the comic-canon who works at a hospital, but she never had much of a role there. </p>
<p>When I changed the narrative structure of the first fic to make it just from Stephen's POV, I ended up losing out on a few details like this ending. I actually prefer my ending in the other fic though in terms of closure for a single story. Tony's POV was necessary for clearing up some details, but is also much more of an open ending. </p>
<p>I never have been able to conclude where to take the fic forward from here, even after over 18 months of working on it. On the one hand, it could actually go mostly canon in many ways, on the other hand... well, Stephen's hands. </p>
<p>I mostly picture a world where the MCU canon stuff is happening, but without these two in it - definitely for the worse for the world, sadly. Tony ends up doing some consultation work for SHIELD though. </p>
<p>Why SHIELD would cover things up, blame canon is all I can say. Why did no one ever suspect Obadiah? Also blame canon. I couldn't work out why he wouldn't want to exploit JARVIS, so it was fun for me to finally throw that plot in there. </p>
<p>I've definitely rambled on enough now! Thanks for reading.</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>